In an effort to strengthen its leading position in the Advanced Micro Devices Inc. platform chipset business, Via Technologies Inc. is set to introduce a high-performance chipset supporting Athlon processors next month. Via, which already has a more than 70% share in chipsets featuring AMD processors, is slated to launch in February its KT-333 chipset, which supports double data rate (DDR) 333 or PC 2700 modules. The move comes amid rising competition from Silicon Integrated Systems Inc., Hsinchu, Taiwan.
“The launch of KT-333 highlights our determination to maintain our lead in the AMD market,” said William Lee, a spokesman of Taipei-based Via.
Via's market share dropped from an earlier peak of 80% to 90% after SiS launched its SiS 745 chipset, which also features the DDR 333 platform, some analysts said. Now, SiS owns about 20% of the market, while the rest goes to Acer Lab Inc., a unit of Taiwan's Acer Group.
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